Nogueira’s boxing coach, Luiz Dorea, said this week that the bout
could be contested for an interim heavyweight title while champion
Brock
Lesnar recovers from an intestinal tract infection and recent
surgery.

“We regret Brock Lesnar's situation, but Rodrigo is waiting to know
if he will fight for the interim belt,” Dorea said. “He is expected
to fight for the interim belt against Cain Velasquez at UFC 110 in
Australia, but that’s not officially confirmed yet.”

Sherdog.com confirmed Thursday, however, that the matchup will
not be for an interim title.

Nogueira and Velasquez were originally slated to anchor UFC 108 on
Jan. 2 in Las Vegas, but the Brazilian withdrew from the
heavyweight headliner in early November due to a staph infection.
Nogueira recently told Sherdog.com that his recovery progressed
well and that he’d be able to fight by late February.

Nogueira’s resume is one of the most impressive in the sport. A
former Pride Fighting Championships titleholder, the 33-year-year
old Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt has won three of his four bouts
since entering the Octagon in July 2007. After losing the UFC
interim title to Frank Mir at
UFC 92 in December 2008, Nogueira bounced back big with a unanimous
decision victory over UFC hall of famer Randy
Couture at UFC 102 in August.

The undefeated Velasquez, 27, battered International Fight League
veteran Ben Rothwell
in the UFC 104 co-main event for a second-round TKO victory in
October. Based out of the American Kickboxing Academy, Velasquez, a
two-time All-American wrestler at Arizona State University, has
finished six of his seven opponents.

This article was updated at 9:09 p.m. EST with information that
the Nogueira-Velasquez matchup will not be for an interim
title.